Mr. Lif, Cage, Felt Head Paid Dues Tour
Also: Sage Francis, Blueprint, Brother Ali

The Paid Dues Independent Hip Hop Festival is following in the footsteps of fellow Guerilla-Union-promoted hip-hop festival Rock the Bells in taking its fest on the road, with a tour of the U.S. this summer.

The tour kicks off today (July 25) in Chicago and features Paid Dues alumni like Mr. Lif, Cage, Brother Ali, Felt (aka Murs and both MC Slug and producer Ant of Atmosphere), Sage Francis, Blueprint, Living Legends, Hangar 18, Lucky I Am, and Grouch & Eligh, with special guests supplementing the lineup on select dates.

What's more, the Paid Dues tour will join up with the Rock the Bells tour in New York City and San Bernardino for a total of three dates of multi-festival hip-hop goodness. Benzes and backpacks welcome. [MORE...]

Carlos D to Play Pot Dealer in Horror Film
And it's a documentary! JK LOL

You knew spotlight-hogging Interpol bassist Carlos D had compositional ambition. But, like many sidemen with lofty aspirations, Carlos longs for stardom of his own. Mr. Dengler will reportedly step out in front of the camera for his feature film acting debut; a wacky move, indeed, but we'll take our Carlos D as publicly wacky as he can muster, thank you very much.

Time Out Chicago recently visited the Chicago suburbs set of My Friends Told Me About You, Carlos' forthcoming film project-- directed by Golgotha auteur and, as such, previous D-llaborator Daniel Ryan-- and gathered this odd assortment of details:

The six-day shoot was for the insipidly-titled thriller My Friends Told Me About You (a working title I hope), which Dengler is producing, starring in and, most likely, scoring... a source on the film's crew says Dengler is playing a "bad drug dealer." Not "bad" as in badass, though. "Bad" as in bumbling. (At one point, Dengler's character gets duped by the oldest trick in the pot-pusher handbook: subbing oregano for the ganj.)

... the story involves men in butcher costumes, lots of blood, a spooky hotel (the Mayflower Motel in Clarendon Hills), a greasy-spoon diner (Uncle Bill's in Roselle) and a creepy little boy in a little suit in the mold of The Omen's Damien (oh god, another terrible tyke?). Dengler and crew will be shooting more of the film here in August, perhaps when Interpol heads to town to play Lollapalooza on Saturday 4.

Probably not, with an Interpol gig the day before and the day after. But no matter; Carlos D is starring in a feature film, and he's playing a drug dealer!

Nobody from Interpol's camp could confirm whether or not all this is actually true, but we sure hope it is. One often wonders how such an absurd character wound up in such an austere band; then one takes a look directly at the moustache and any such lines of questioning are soon forgotten. That moustache... must grow a similar moustache...

Thanks to Stereogum for the tip. Interpol are, as hinted at, on tour, with a bunch of dates with Liars. [MORE...]

Boris Record a Ton, Do Altar Onstage With Sunn O)))
U.S. tour with Damon & Naomi and Michio Kurihara taking shape

Japanese metal efficiency, thy name is Boris. Before the year's through, the tumultuous trio will have a cool onstage collaboration, a million new releases, and a few scattered tour dates under their belts.

First, the collaboration. On December 10, at London's unimaginatively-named Forum, Boris and Sunn O))) will meet for a full go of their 2006 collaboration Altar, thanks to ATP. Yes, from "Etna" to "Fried Eagle Mind" to "Blood Swamp," they'll all be there, serving up a little doom during the season of hope, joy, and whatnot.

On record, Diwphalanx Records will issue a split Boris/Stupid Babies Go Mad 10" called Damaged July 27. Boris guitarist Wata also has a split 7" with Ai Aso, titled "She's So Heavy" and accompanied by a 60-page full-color book(!) due out August 24 on the same label. And then there's the recently-issued Boris and Doomriders live LP Long Hair & Tights, out presently on Daymare Records. There's also talk of a Boris/Merzbow joint double-live album due September 21, though that's all we know about it now. Phew.

And there's those other tour dates, too, including previously-announced stops at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas shindig and the Adventures in Modern Music festival. A U.S. tour featuring Boris and their Rainbow partner Michio Kurihara, as well as Kurihara collaborators Damon & Naomi, is in the works for the fall. So far, only three dates have been scheduled. [MORE...]

Nick Lowe Announces Fall Tour

With the release of At My Age moving further into the past with each passing moment, Nick Lowe has done the sensible thing and scheduled a tour in support of the (okay, still very new) album.

Lowe will show his Age (we got puns!) to North Americans this fall starting September 17 in Alexandria, Virginia and ending just shy of a month later. And what would his pub rock reputation be without a stop at Milwaukee's Shank Hall? [MORE...]

Common Reveals Finding Forever Tracklist, Shows

With no more delays in sight (though when are they ever clearly visible?) and the G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen release of Finding Forever set for July 31, it's about time Common revealed the exact contents of his seventh full-length's tracklist.

Like its predecessor, Be, the record is refreshingly short for a hip-hop album, and all the song titles look pretty standard except for "U, Black Maybe", which we hope so bad is a response to the title of Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga closer. And yes, Lily Allen, J Dilla, D'Angelo, and Kanye are all on the album.

The Chicago veteran has a few scattered shows and autograph sessions as well as one public interview (we'd listen again) scheduled, all of which are listed and carefully annotated below, as well as a string of tour dates in September.

In addition to those appearances, Common will also perform on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on August 1. [MORE...]

Ryan Adams Extends Tour for Umpteenth Time

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals continue on their previously reported trek to bring Easy Tiger to the masses, but true to form, the prolific (and chatty) songwriter has added even more dates to the tour.

That tour now extends all the way into December, and while there are quite a few more new North American dates, the big additions are stops in Australia and New Zealand in August and the UK in late fall.

The next stop of the tour is tomorrow (July 26) in Portland. [MORE...]

Night Falls on New Jens Lekman Album
And that Arthur Russell covers EP is finally coming out, too

It's been almost two years since we fell in love with Jens Lekman's last record, Oh You're So Silent Jens, and in that time our love has only grown stronger for the heartbroken Swedish heartbreaker, thanks in part to his fantastic performance at the 2006 Pitchfork Music Festival, as well as his awesome blog posts.

Now, our affection can blossom even further, with the announcement of the new Lekman album, Night Falls Over Kortedala, out September 5 in Scandinavia on Service and October 9 on Secretly Canadian in America. As previously reported, it will be preceded by the "Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo" single, out digitally July 31.

Thanks to reader Bryan M. Young for the heads-up.

We already know that at least three songs on the record are great. "Bingo" has been streaming, Lekman's been playing "A Postcard to Nina" live for awhile (including at the festival), and the exuberant "The Opposite of Hallelujah" came out originally in 2005 on Hidden Camera Joel Gibb's Evil Evil label.

And if all that wasn't enough, Kortedala features guest spots from buddies Frida Hyvönen and El Perro Del Mar.

According to a quote from Jens on the Secretly Canadian website, the album is a sort of love letter/kiss-off to the Kortedala neighborhood of Gothenburg that he calls home:

"What a depressing suburban hell this place is. Everyone goes to bed at nine, after that you can't see one single window lit up. You can walk for hours without meeting one single person. I used to like that, 'cause it meant I could go for endless walks and pretend the world was my own and I was the only one in it. But after a while I found out the hard way that there were others who couldn't sleep at night.

"On my way into town I got beat up and mugged one night three years ago. Since then it's happened so many times I've lost count. It's never been that bad, I've never ended up in the hospital or lost anything too valuable really. But it's the atmosphere and the small incidents that scare me. The guys who yell 'faggot' at me when I pass their balcony, the nazis hanging out in a nearby open garage, the old men with their binoculars who sit in their windows looking for anything suspicious to report, the dead cats that show up on the lawn outside my kitchen, the knock on my window at four a.m. this summer followed by a whispered 'when he opens you hit him in the head,' the neighbour I constantly find passed out in the staircase, the flicker of a million tv screens against the livingroom walls, the smoke from a million chainsmoking moms, the fact that the guy who lived in my apartment before me lay dead in the bathtub for three months before they found him.

"In Kortedala everyone's minding their own business. And I'm slowly turning into one of them so as soon as I've finished this record I will get the hell out of here."

But the album isn't the only new Lekman music in the pipeline. In August, Rough Trade will release the Four Songs by Arthur Russell EP, featuring Arthur Russell covers by Lekman, Vera November (aka Verity Sussman of Electrelane), Taken by Trees (aka Victoria Bergsman), and the aforementioned Joel Gibb. Sound familiar? Yeah, it's been in the works for at least two years-- Lekman talked about it in his "Ten Best Songs I Discovered in 2005" Guest List. All four will play a record-release party in Stockholm on August 20.

As for touring plans, Lekman has a few European shows lined up for August and September, and he'll head Stateside in the fall. So far, only one U.S. show has been announced: November 2 at the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago. [MORE...]

Man Man Does "Weeds" Theme Song
We're getting high just typing this

If you're a regular "Weeds" watcher, chances are the weekly makeover given to the show's theme song passes by unnoticed. Nevertheless, the third season of the Showtime dramedy about dope-slinging mom and her friend Kevin Nealon will sport some serious talent behind the "Little Boxes". Whether or not you let your bubbler obscure the gnarly tunes is your call, Brosef.

Some of indie's brightest grow-lights are shining on the tune for season three; Man Man and the Shins chief among them. Heck, even memories of the shortest term will recall that we spoke of the Shins' take on "Little Boxes" popping up on their new single.

But lest we forget Donovan, Joan Baez, Randy Newman, and Billy Bob Thornton, well... hey, wait, you've already forgotten, haven't you? Geez, guy, turn down the Strawberry Jam and pick up the employment section. Kinky, Michael Franti, Angelique Kidjo, Persephone's Bees, and the Individuals will also spend their time in the "Weeds", all the while neglecting their time in the homework.

The third season of "Weeds" premiers August 13, with Randy Newman singing the tune. You are so gonna think they made a live-action Toy Story for a second.

Wait a second... Man Man?! How the hell did they get in there?! Do these look like the kind of people who smoke a lot of weed or something?!

Dalek, Jennifer O'Connor Play East River Music Project

Normally we'd kick off a piece like this with some joke like, "Man, you'd have to pay us to stand next to the East River all day!" But in the case of the annual East River Music Project summer concert series, we'll accept some very cool rock free shows as compensation for the fishy smell. (Also, the East River Amphitheatre, where the shows take place, is quite an idyllic location.)

Indeed, the series kicked off last month with a show from Ex-Models; but that red, itchy patch on your forehead should've tipped you off that summer ain't over yet, and neither is the ERMP's slate of free shows.

They've got three planned for now, with the next one this very Saturday. July 28 gets Jennifer O'Connor, Lindsay Anderson (of L'Altra), and the Rats. August 11 sees Meg Baird (of Espers), Vampire Weekend, and Jonathan Kane's February. Closing things out September 8 are Dälek, These Are Powers, Clockcleaner, Despot, and Made Out of Babies.

St. Vincent to Open for the National

Photo by Tod Seelie

While you were busy proposing repeat spins of St. Vincent's mesmeric Marry Me to your cats, Annie Clark was out getting chummy with the National. All that knee-taking and ring-bearing apparently paid off, and St. Vincent will link up with the National for eleven dates starting in mid-September.

Of course, St. Vincent still has shows with Scout Niblett and Death Vessel scheduled beforehand. But who wants to marry a Death Vessel? [MORE...]

Jamie Lidell Joins Beck in the Studio!

Jamie Lidell photo by Jason Bergman

Former conjoined twins (not really) and tourmates (really) Beck and Jamie Lidell took their relationship to the next level recently by recording together at the Los Angeles studio Infrasonic Sound Recording Co.

Since nothing is ever quite what it seems with either Beck or Lidell, it makes sense that the sessions were of a very peculiar fashion: a series of direct-to-disc recordings for eventual release as singles.

Best explained in a press release as a method that "captures a live performance directly to vinyl lacquer," Infrasonic's direct-to-disc process takes place on the same Neumann lathe that cut records by David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Elvis Presley.

Just to clarify: wacky British songwriter Jamie Lidell joined wacky American songwriter Beck in an L.A. studio to have their performances together turned into vinyl masters for a series of singles as they performed. Oh, and it was done on a machine that did the same thing for another wacky British songwriter named David Bowie. Make sense?

Also participating in the Beck-Lidell sessions were Lidell/Feist/Peaches pal Mocky, Jason Falkner, Roger Manning, and Justin Meldal-Johnsen.

And as a final, weird touch, the Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez hopes to record a direct-to-disc session at Infrasonic later this year.

If this is all starting to sound like an acid-induced dream to you too, take solace in the fact that Jamie Lidell will perform live all by his awesome lonesome later this summer at two back-to-back festival dates. [MORE...]

Colin Meloy to Play "Smart Jeb" on "Lil' Bush"

Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy will join the ranks of Jeff Tweedy, Frank Black, Iggy Pop, Dave Grohl, Flea, and Anthony Kiedis as a voice contributor to Comedy Central's "Lil' Bush" when the show's season finale airs tomorrow, July 25.

In an episode summarized as "Lil' George fights against Lil' Mikey Moore to protect the American institution of hot dogs," Meloy brings his highbrow tendencies to the character of Smart Jeb, a version of the formerly-even-dumber-than-normal Bush brother that gains his smarts via a collision with a frying pan. As he says, "The blow to my cerebral cortex must have opened a neurological path to my occipital lobe."

But how do we know that's one of Meloy's lines if the episode hasn't even aired yet? The internet, friends, which we thank for providing the following clip for your viewing pleasure:

Below, you can find a few more clips from the show featuring some of the aforementioned guest voices (though Iggy is a regular contributor as Lil' Rummy). The first two are of Frank Black's turn as Lil' Satan, and the last one is of Jeff Tweedy's dignified appearance as Goddy, which is actually very funny.

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)